Song

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Figure 1. Distribution of the Red-eyed Vireo in North and Central America.

Adult Red-eyed Vireo, May, NY State

May 2002, Dryden NY; photographer Marie Reed

Arguably one of the most common songbirds breeding in the woodlands of eastern North America, the Red-eyed Vireo is more often heard than seen. The persistent, if not enthusiastic, song is heard throughout the day: cherr-o-wit, cheree, sissy-a-wit, tee-oo, and on and on. The song's unending and monotonous character prompted Bradford Torrey in 1889 to reflect wryly, “I have always thought that whoever dubbed this vireo the ‘preacher' could have had no very exalted opinion of the clergy” (
Tyler, W. M. 1950b. "Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus) Red-eyed Vireo." In Life histories of North American wagtails, shrikes, vireos, and their allies., edited by A. C. Bent, 335-348. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 197.
Tyler 1950b: 343).

As with many Nearctic-Neotropical migrants, Red-eyed Vireos are thought to trace their evolutionary origins to the Tropics (
Cicero, C. and N. K. Johnson. 1998. Molecular phylogeny and ecological diversification in a clade of New World songbirds (genus Vireo). Molecular Ecology no. 7 (10):1359-1370.
Cicero and Johnson 1998). This species breeds extensively across Canada and eastern North America; these populations, the focus of this account, winter principally in the Amazon basin of South America east of the Andes. Other populations currently classified as Red-eyed Vireo are resident (tropical regions) or migratory (subtropical to temperate regions) in South America. In all populations, the sexes are weakly dimorphic and socially monogamous. The female builds the nest, incubates eggs, and devotes more time than the male to brooding and feeding of young. These birds are largely insectivorous during the breeding season, when they are most often observed foraging in canopy vegetation. During the nonbreeding season, fruit is an important part of the diet, especially in tropical winter quarters. A mixed diet of fruit and insects is especially conducive to fat deposition during migration. The Red-eyed Vireo is a nocturnal migrant whose magnetic compass figures prominently in its orientation during intercontinental flight (R. Sandberg, J. Bäckman, and M. Lohmus pers. comm.).